Tech 21 Club

[Kro]

I think the Steve Harris is more like a typical SansAmp done to his specs - it's a two channel rig-sim.

Again, it all depends if you want that tone vs the tone of the fly rig and all of the other options that has. The fly rig certainly does a lot more effects-wise, while the Steve Harris is more specialized.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

I think the Steve Harris is more like a typical SansAmp done to his specs - it's a two channel rig-sim.

Again, it all depends if you want that tone vs the tone of the fly rig and all of the other options that has. The fly rig certainly does a lot more effects-wise, while the Steve Harris is more specialized.

Thank you very much for your response .. from the videos I have actually seen I found the most specialized steve harris .. although I think that with the fly rig it is possible to get closer to that kind of steve harris sound .. thank you very much!

 

[friskinator]

Found an insane deal on the VTBass 500 head brand new, so I decided to give it a shot. I haven't had time to play with it much, but I fortunately have a gig next weekend to see what it can do. Sounds awesome so far! I have 2 of these cabs, but both at home is overkill, so I practice with one.

 

[Domespeed]

And what do you think about the comparison between fly rig v1 and sansamp steve harris? are they different or can they be similar? thank you very much!

I recently did a quick comparison between my BFR and the SH1 of a friend.

I'd say the basic sound of the two units is quite similar and apart from the obvious effects in the BFR one main difference for me is the blend knob in the SH1 (which sometimes I wish the BFR had as well).

 

[Pantofolaio79]

I recently did a quick comparison between my BFR and the SH1 of a friend.

I'd say the basic sound of the two units is quite similar and apart from the obvious effects in the BFR one main difference for me is the blend knob in the SH1 (which sometimes I wish the BFR had as well).

Thank you so much, I actually imagined a similar basic sound apart from the characteristics of each of them ..

 

[Lync]

The blend knob is the key for me. Back in the day when I picked up my BDDI v1, I always set blend to full (bad idea). Sold it, picked up a VT Bass Deluxe (no blend, not enough fat low end for me), sold it. Within the past 2 years I purchased the DP-3X (love it...I was making my country band sound a little angry ha ha). Then I came across the SH-1. Very versatile, but I don't use blend on full. Nice bottom end also.

 

[Kro]

The blend knob is the key for me. Back in the day when I picked up my BDDI v1, I always set blend to full (bad idea). Sold it, picked up a VT Bass Deluxe (no blend, not enough fat low end for me), sold it. Within the past 2 years I purchased the DP-3X (love it...I was making my country band sound a little angry ha ha). Then I came across the SH-1. Very versatile, but I don't use blend on full. Nice bottom end also.

As a VTDI user, my experience is the exact opposite of yours. I used to think the blend was necessary, but then realized I was trying to fix an EQ problem with blending instead of actually just boosting the bass knob. Also you don't get the phase cancelation gaps that come with blend at certain settings, which were honestly a bigger concern.

Different users will find different ways of dialing in their tone, but for some reason it does seem like there is a reluctance to use EQ after a level of drive is dialed in (yup, you'll probably need to boost lows to better match the added harmonic distortion).

 

[Kro]

I just realized I haven't shared anything in a while!

This one is our latest that released in early April. As usual it features my Precision into my VTDI without any additional tone shaping.

 

[Fuzzbass]

The blend knob is the key for me. Back in the day when I picked up my BDDI v1, I always set blend to full (bad idea).

Understandable. IIRC, all of the sample settings in the BDDI manual had Blend cranked to full, and for awhile I assumed that was how it should be run. I know a couple BDDI users who always run Blend full, but I discovered that when I was having too much issue with mid scoop, then I should back off the Blend.

And that's the difference between BDDI and VT. On the BDDI, the mid scoop is part of the effect circuitry, whereas on the VT, heavy scoop only comes into play when cranking Character counterclockwise -- moving Character away from full ccw will mitigate the scoop.

 

[Fuzzbass]

While I'm here: I've been rotating dirt pedals for my weekend woodshedding. Last weekend I used the Leeds (Hiwatt sim), and was reminded how cool it is. I think I still prefer the Oxford (Orange sim) because it has a bit more clank up top, but the Leeds is also great. Oxford and Leeds are both discontinued. TBH they are more friendly to guitar than bass (Low EQ is voiced at 120Hz), but both can work very well with bass.

For my first gigs of the year that occurred a month ago, I brought out the DP-3X: still my favorite for clangy hard rock tones.

 

[bgavin]

Hey Fuzz..
Last night I was going through my saved comments from Tech21 and saw some of your comments about the VTRM.

I stepped away for a few years, and see how the world has moved on.
I still have my RPM, RBI, and VTRM, and find two are now discontinued and replaced by the Geddy.
I even have my SWR Interstellar Overdrive, but it is no longer in the Sansamp rack.

The Tech21 gear is good stuff.

 

[Scott Shaw]

Understandable. IIRC, all of the sample settings in the BDDI manual had Blend cranked to full, and for awhile I assumed that was how it should be run. I know a couple BDDI users who always run Blend full, but I discovered that when I was having too much issue with mid scoop, then I should back off the Blend.

And that's the difference between BDDI and VT. On the BDDI, the mid scoop is part of the effect circuitry, whereas on the VT, heavy scoop only comes into play when cranking Character counterclockwise -- moving Character away from full ccw will mitigate the scoop.

That's the key to using the v1 BDDI. Do not go full on the blend. When I got my Q Strip, it came with sample settings. One of them showed how to simulate the BDDI. Set at 700hz and dump it. That's one of the most crucial frequencies to get a nice character from the bass IMO.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

I decided to add another tech 21 to my bass fly rig..I am undecided if the sansamp sh1 or the sansamp bddi..I love these tech 21 products..opinions?

 

[Kro]

That's one of the most crucial frequencies to get a nice character from the bass IMO.

The thing is, it all depends on what bass, what strings, and what attack you're using. It's why sample settings will always kinda... stink for the majority of players and playstyles!

I know I like scooping my mids, but to my ear, the signal that I make needs it.

 

[Fuzzbass]

The thing is, it all depends on what bass, what strings, and what attack you're using. It's why sample settings will always kinda... stink for the majority of players and playstyles!

I know I like scooping my mids, but to my ear, the signal that I make needs it.

Agreed. Rolling back blend can definitely help, but it depends on the other pieces in the tone chain. P-basses are mid-forward by nature, so full blend on the BDDI can work very well. OTOH, on my active Sadowsky P5 I tend to boost treble and bass a bit, which results in some relative mid scoop, so in that case I would roll back BDDI blend to mitigate its scoop.

Many amps have some kind of mid contour switch because bassists like it: Ampeg Ultra Lo is a classic example. Also, it's not uncommon for an amp, pedal (or whatever) to be scooped even when set flat: back in the day some SWR gear was known for that. So, it can be easy enough to wind up with too much mid scoop.

But there are plenty of other variables. When I'm playing in my "big band" that includes guitar, organ, and 5-piece horn section, I tend to find my place in that busy mix with a mid bump. OTOH, when I'm in a rock/blues power trio situation, I might go for scoop to fill out the mix and leave a hole for the guitar.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Hey Fuzz..
Last night I was going through my saved comments from Tech21 and saw some of your comments about the VTRM.

I stepped away for a few years, and see how the world has moved on.
I still have my RPM, RBI, and VTRM, and find two are now discontinued and replaced by the Geddy.
I even have my SWR Interstellar Overdrive, but it is no longer in the Sansamp rack.

The Tech21 gear is good stuff.

Hey Bruce! I confess that I'm one who moved from rack rigs to amp-plus-pedals a few years ago. I let all my rack gear go: RBI, RPM, VT-RM, SWR IOD. In short, I wound up with "different", and not "better". I love my new gear, but the rack gear worked extremely well, especially two-SansAmps-in-parallel, and I do miss it.

A number of reasons for my move, one being logistics: I started getting a bunch of small gigs where it made more sense to go with micro amp, pedal, and one or two 1x12 cabs. My rack rig wasn't huge or heavy -- fact is that the SansAmp rack modules are lightweight -- but a 6-pound micro amp is a breeze.

I still love Tech 21 tube emulation. These days, the DP-3X, SH-1, Oxford, and Leeds pedals are all part of my regular rotation (with pedals, it's easier to be fickle ). I also liked the YYZ (Geddy) pedal a lot, but not as much as those others so I sold it.

Sometimes I still wish I had the rack stuff, but storage space is an issue for me these days.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

Hey Bruce! I confess that I'm one who moved from rack rigs to amp-plus-pedals a few years ago. I let all my rack gear go: RBI, RPM, VT-RM, SWR IOD. In short, I wound up with "different", and not "better". I love my new gear, but the rack gear worked extremely well, especially two-SansAmps-in-parallel, and I do miss it.

A number of reasons for my move, one being logistics: I started getting a bunch of small gigs where it made more sense to go with micro amp, pedal, and one or two 1x12 cabs. My rack rig wasn't huge or heavy -- fact is that the SansAmp rack modules are lightweight -- but a 6-pound micro amp is a breeze.

I still love Tech 21 tube emulation. These days, the DP-3X, SH-1, Oxford, and Leeds pedals are all part of my regular rotation (with pedals, it's easier to be fickle ). I also liked the YYZ (Geddy) pedal a lot, but not as much as those others so I sold it.

Sometimes I still wish I had the rack stuff, but storage space is an issue for me these days.

Excuse me the sansamp DP3X and the SH1 you connect them in series?

 

[Fuzzbass]

Excuse me the sansamp DP3X and the SH1 you connect them in series?

Oh, sorry for the confusion! I never stack DP3X and SH1*. Actually, I typically use each as a one-pedal solution at small gigs: bass -> pedal -> amp.

I am a big fan of series stacking with other pedals. For example I might start with a moderate OD tone from something like MBD-1 or Blower Box, and stack that into my Oxford (or whatever) for final tone coloration.

*I'm not saying DP3X and SH1 shouldn't be stacked. Maybe I'll try that sometime.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

Oh, sorry for the confusion! I never stack DP3X and SH1*. Actually, I typically use each as a one-pedal solution at small gigs: bass -> pedal -> amp.

I am a big fan of series stacking with other pedals. For example I might start with a moderate OD tone from something like MBD-1 or Blower Box, and stack that into my Oxford (or whatever) for final tone coloration.

*I'm not saying DP3X and SH1 shouldn't be stacked. Maybe I'll try that sometime.

Thank you so much for your reply .. in fact I have the idea, after contacting the Tech 21 staff, to stack the bass fly rig v1 and sh1 .. and I'm really curious about the result

 

[Clark Westfield]

Found an insane deal on the VTBass 500 head brand new, so I decided to give it a shot. I haven't had time to play with it much, but I fortunately have a gig next weekend to see what it can do. Sounds awesome so far! I have 2 of these cabs, but both at home is overkill, so I practice with one.

View attachment 4273816

I have a VT500 head, great little amp.

So sad they discontinued it.